Dystopian – Page 2 – Made of Stardust and Stubbornness

“Hell Followed with Us” Review

Posted on July 3, 2023October 13, 2024 by Jen

“Hell Followed with Us” by Andrew Joseph White

Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can’t get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from the destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teens from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC’s leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji’s darkest secret: the cult’s bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use its power to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick’s terms…until he discovers the ALC’s mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

Review

This was a really good book! There’s a lot of gore and body horror but I don’t think it was as graphic as it could have been. If it was a movie or a tv show I’d probably have trouble watching because of the gore but in text it didn’t seem so bad. If you read the introduction of the book the author explains where a lot of it came from and how he felt as a teen struggling with his identity. Which is the whole book too.

All of the characters were great and I liked how everything worked out. Even Nick’s “secrets” worked out well in the end. Benji was a great character to get to know. I did wonder if some things could have been explained a little better but at the same time I wasn’t sure how much the characters knew or could explain because they’re all teenagers dealing with the world they’ve been left in. I’m not sure how fully they understood everything to start with. Even Benji’s awareness of everything and understanding of what was happening seemed suspect.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Hell Followed with Us”.

Book Details

Author’s Website: Andrew Joseph White
Publisher / Date: Peachtree Teen, June 2022
Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopian, Young Adult
Page Count: 416
Completion Date: June 30, 2023

“The Marrow Thieves” Review

Posted on June 25, 2023October 13, 2024 by Jen

“The Marrow Thieves” by Cherie Dimaline

In a futuristic world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America’s Indigenous people, and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow, and dreams, means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a fifteen-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones and take refuge from the “recruiters” who seek them out

Review

It’s always interesting reading apocalyptic stories with Indigenous characters from the Americas, because no matter what you can’t deny that they’ve been through an apocalyptic event already. And this story book makes no apologies for expressing that point repeatedly as the characters discuss everything that’s going on. I really enjoyed reading this book and I the characters are great. There’s a lot oral storytelling in the book as the characters make their way north. The elders of the group explaining the history to the younger ones and then also the various characters in the group telling their own stories of how they got to where they are. While the overall story is rather dark and bleak (how can it not be given the setting?) the ending is somewhat hopeful.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “The Marrow Thieves”.

Book Details

Book Cover with a blue background. There is an Indigenous young man on the cover with only half of his face visible. He has black hair and a white strip of paint on his cheek. The cover also has various round stickers of the awards the book has won: GG Books Winner, The Kircus Prize Winner, A Globe and Mail Best Book, The White Pine Award.

Author’s Website: Cherie Dimaline
Publisher / Date: Dancing Cat Books, May 2017
Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Page Count: 240
Completion Date: June 24, 2023

“Seeds for the Swarm” Review

Posted on March 26, 2023October 14, 2024 by Jen

“Seeds for the Swarm” by Sim Kern

Rylla McCracken dreams of escaping her family’s trailer in the Dust States to go to college, but on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, her mother demands she drop out of school to work for Lockburn chemical refinery instead. When Rylla learns Lockburn is planning to dam the Guadalupe River-the last flowing water in Texas-she defies her mother to protest in the state capital. The protest ends in disaster, but her ensuing viral infamy gains Rylla an acceptance to the mysterious Wingates University.

Review

First I want to say I really enjoyed this book. However I wish I had known going in that it was actually part one in a series and the ending doesn’t actually resolve any of the various plot points that come up in the story. It’s not a hard cliffhanger where someone is about to die horribly, but it is a story that needs resolution that won’t happen until the next book. This is more about me though – when I read a series I like it best when each book mostly stands on its own with a resolved plot at the end. Anything else is just frustrating – especially when I don’t know when the next part is coming. I may have gone ahead and read the book anyway knowing this but I would have liked to know what I was getting into.

However all that said – the book is worth reading, especially if you don’t mind unresolved endings, because the characters are great. Sure they’re teenagers and the main character Rylla, makes some ridiculous choices but she is a teenager, and going through a lot of changes. It should be noted I was always a rule follower so don’t have any awareness of what is actually reasonable when it comes to teenage shenanigans. It’s also a book where kids or teenagers have to save the world which I’ve gotten a bit tired of but it felt realistic given our current world. The book may be set in the future with even worse damage from climate change but it’s a future we could very easily end up in. The emphasis on how rich white people will always able to survive comfortably while everyone else suffers is exactly how it is now.

And yes, it’s likely I’ll read the next book as soon as it comes out…

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Seeds for the Swarm”.

Book Details

Book cover for Seeds for the Swarm. a person with shaggy light brown hair and white skin is on the cover sideways looking up in. In the background are various colors and green flying bugs at the top of the cover.

Author’s Website: Sim Kern
Publisher / Date: Stelliform Press, March 2023
Genre: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Page Count: 440
Completion Date: March 26, 2023

Books Finished so far in 2023

Posted on March 12, 2023October 5, 2024 by Jen

Below are the books I’ve read so far in 2023, not necessarily in order within the month of completion.

Books Finished in January

Nophek Gloss The Graven #1, by Essa Hansen: I liked the characters though the plot was a bit confusing and sometimes frustrating, but I still enjoyed it. I will need to check out the next book.
Black Sun – Between Earth and Sky #1, by Rebecca Roanhorse: This was a really interesting book. I enjoyed the different points of view characters their stories as things progressed. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jonny Sun as Jomny Sun: A surprise graphic novel! It was a fun read.
Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction, edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Zelda Knight, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki
Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spiritand Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction, edited by Joshua Whitehead: This applies to the above two because I’m saying the same about both. I really enjoyed the stories in both anthologies. They each have a lot of interesting characters and stories about the characters. As with any anthology I read I look forward to looking up the various authors and seeing what else they have written.

Books Finished in February

Not a Nation of Immigrants: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: This was an interesting read – some history I already new about and some I did not. There was a lot of stuff I would say is important for us to know.
The Vanished Birdsz by Simon Jimenez: The way this story unfolded took some getting used to but I really ended up enjoying it. There’s a lot going on and a single paragraph can span several years which makes things even more interesting. The characters make it all wroth it.

Books Finished in March so far

Some Kids Left Behind: A Survivor’s Fight for Health Care in the Wake of 9/11 by Lila Nordstrom: I really enjoyed reading this and I feel like I learned a lot about the aftermath of 9/11 from the point of view of people like Lila – people who lived near the towers. There’s a lot I had never heard about or realized. Also a lot comparisons to be made about what is going on now with COVID